Ornithodoros (Pavlovskyella) alactagalis Issaakjan, 1936 (Fig. 18)

Abstract

Under laboratory conditions (temperature of 26 °C and humidity of 90–95%), the development of O. alactagalis from egg to adult lasts from 5 to 10 months. All life stages feed; bloodsucking usually lasts between several minutes to 1 hour. Attachment of larvae on mice takes 1–4 h and moult to first stage nymphs occurs after 9–20 days. Female development includes 3–4 nymphal stages. For males, 2–3 nymphal stages exist. After 52–120 days of feeding, females oviposit; incubation lasts 19–32 days. Survival of wild specimens in the laboratory was reported to be longer than 6 years. Ornithodoros alactagalis ticks are found in burrows of animals, such as rodents (including Psammomys obesus, Cricetus cricetus, Phodopus spp., Meriones spp., Mus musculus, Arvicola spp., Allactaga spp.), badgers (Meles spp.), foxes (Vulpes spp.) and hedgehogs (Hemiechinus auritus); it was associated also with lizard and green toad burrows (Bufo viridis). Ornithodoros alactagalis ticks may show aggressive behaviour towards humans and researchers reported attacks when approaching animal burrows.